As I Lay Dying

1.

In As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, the sections narrated by Cash reveal his approach

to life. To Cash, logic trumps emotions. While other characters narrations show their feelings
towards Addies death, there is no sign of feeling in Cashs accounts. As the family grieves over
the impending death of Addie, Cash uses his prided carpentry skills and builds the beautiful
coffin in which his mother will be laid to rest. In her final moments, Cash shows the lid of her
coffin to Addie for her approval. While this may come across as insensitive to readers and his
family, this coffin is a demonstration of how much Cash cares about his mother. He wants her to
enjoy where her body will rest after death. All this hard work that he puts into the coffin is
almost immediately displaced by the chaos that ensues. When placing the coffin in the wagon,
Cash attempts to tell his family to balance the coffin, but he is continuously talked over and
ignored. Throughout the journey, Cash shows the most reverence for the coffin containing his
mother, though this may be due to his pride in his craftsmanship. During the attempt to cross the
river, the unbalanced coffin floats downstream. This results in the loss of the mules, and the near
death of Cash, who is unable to swim and still attempts to protect the coffin. This incident leads
to the breaking of Cashs leg, but even as he is suffering through the pain of his leg, Cash thinks
back to when he told his family to balance the coffin. Similarly, as he is going through the pain
of a broken leg, Cash finds comfort in his tools rather than his family. The comfort he receives
from his tools reveals his detachment from familial relationships. The familial disinterest is
further revealed after Darl burns down the farm. Rather than dreading what will happen to his
brother, Cash logically reasons that sending him to a mental asylum will be best for the entire
family. He knows Gillespie will sue since they know Darl is the one who committed the crime,
so sending him away is the most reasonable and beneficial course of action for the entire family.